Improvement in the manufacture of pruning-shears



's. 5. MILES. Manufacture of Pruning-Shears.

No. 164,579, Patentedlune15,l875 55 1/31 556 12 THE GRAPHIC C0.PHDTO LTH39 k 4] PARK PLACE,N Y

PATENT OFFICE.

I STEPHEN sMIL s', oi f1t0 ME,nEw-YoRK.

IMPROVEMENT-IN Ti- EMANuFAcTunE 0F PRUNlNG-SHEARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 164,579, dated J one15, 1875; application filed February 10, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN S. Mines, of Rome, in the county of Oneida,State of New York, have invented an Improvement in the Art ofFabricating Pruning-Shears, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part of thesame, in which Figure l is a side view of a bar of steel, of which thecutting-blade of pruning-shears is made by my method. Fig. 2 is an edgeVlBW of the same. Fig. 3 is a side View of the same bar after it hasundergone the first step in my process, namely, the upsetting of theportion of the bar that is to constitute the cutting-blade. Fig 4 is asimilar view of the same bar after the enlargement caused by theupsetting has been caused to project wholly on that edge of the bardesigned to be the cutting-blade. Fig. 5 is a side View of the same barafter being curved and formed into the shape which fits it to become thecuttingblade and shank of a pair of pruning-shears.

Fig. 6 is a side view of a pair of completed pruning-shears fabricatedaccording to my improved method; and Fig. 7 is a section on the line a:a, Fig. 6. My invention relates to pruning-shears havng a singlecutting-blade with an opposing aw, designed to press the object to beout against the cutting-edge of the cutting-blade, the blade and jawoperating to accomplish what is known as a draw-cut, and consists in theimprovement in the art of fabricating such shears, hereinafterparticularly described. In practicing my improvement I take, formedium-sized shears, a bar of steel, Figs. '1 and 2, measuring, incross-section, say, one and a quarter inch by five-sixteenths of aninch, and of suitable length to form the blade and shank. The portion aof this bar,intended for the cutting-blade, will be about between thedotted lines y 3 Fig. 1. This portion I heat and upset by any suitablemeans, so as to increase its size, as represented by Fig. 3, leaving theend 12 the original size of the bar. A practicable method of effectingthe said upsetting of the portion of the bar indicated is to heat thesaid portion, applying the heat as near its center as possible; then toplunge the end I) for a moment in cold water; then to grasp the bar onthe opposite side of the line y y in a vise, when, by blows of a hammeron the end I), the portion between as andy will be upset and increasedin size, as shown in Fig. 3. Any other convenient method of manipulationmay be practiced to effect the upsetting of the bar.

The enlargement formed by the upsetting I then cause to project whollyon one edge of the bar, as seen in Fig. 4, preserving the originalthickness of the bar uniform throughout. This may be done by placing theupset portion edgewise down upon a properly-formed swage, and strikingwith a hammer the opposite or upper edge over the swage, so as to carrythe swell in the bar Wholly down into the swage, giving it the formshown in Fig. 4. This bar I then bend into the form repre= sented byFig. 5, and make an aperture, c,in the end I) for the pivot of theshears, and bevel draw the curved edge d down to a cutting-edge, whichwill, of course, give the cutting-blade A increased breadth, asrepresented in the completed shears, Fig. 6.

The opposing jaw c, with its shank f, may also be made from a bar ofsteel of a suitable size for the said shank, by upsetting that portiondesigned for the pivotal center 9, as that portion is made to projectsome distance in: wardly from the axial line of the bar, to enable thejaw e to extend laterally beyond and curve around the cutting-edge d ofthe blade A. The two halves of the shears are then put together with aproper screw, pin, or rivet, as seen in Fig. 6.

The obvious advantage of this improved method of fabricating thecutting-blade and shank of the shears described is its great saving oflabor and expense; also, the obviating of the weakening of the shankwhich occurs when, as in the ordinary method of constructin g shears,the aperture for the pivot is made in the body or shank between thehandle and the cutting-blade and it is to the special method describedof fabricating the cutting-blades of pruning-shears, designed toaccomplish a draw-cut, by a curved cutting-edge againstwhich the objectto be cut is forced by a jaw, between which and the pivot of the shearsis the cutting-edge, and the shears thus constituted, that I limit myclaim.

What I do claim, and desire to secure by in the end b of the bar,binding the bar thus Letters Patent, isfashioned into the form shown inFig. 5, and The improvements in the art of fabricating uniting the sameto the other half of the shears,

pruning-shears herein described, consisting in thus forming theinstrument shown in Fig. 6,

commencing the fabrication" of the cuttingsubstantially as specified.blade, with its shank and pivotal portion, from STEPHEN S. MILES. a barof steel of suitable size for the said shanks, Witnesses:

upsetting and spreading the same to form the A. S. FITCH, blade A,making the aperture for the pivot 0 FRED. BOND.

